Lectures on tumours, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England / by James Paget.

  • James Paget
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on tumours, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England / by James Paget. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    and that, except in the comparatively rare event of the absorption of a tumour, there is, in no case, an indication of return to the normal type or condition of the body : there is no improvement, as in the organized lymph exuded in the inflammatory process, no adaptation to purpose, no assump- tion of a more natural shape. In all these events, there- fore, as well as in their growth, the nearly independent nature of the tumour is shown : while forming part of the body, and borrowing from it the apjjaratus and the mate- rials necessary to its life, the tumour grows or maintains itself, or degenerates, according to ])eculiar laws. The characters of which I have been speaking belong to a larger number of abnormities than are usually called tumours : they belong, indeed, to a large class, of which tumours form one part or section, while the other is com- posed of certain morbid enlargements of organs, by what is regarded as merely hypertrophy ; such as that of the prostate, the thyroid gland, and others.* Now the dis- * The class may seem to include, also, those abnormal states of the foetus which are attended with excessive growth or development of organs or members, yet cannot be ascribed to a fusion of t\\ o germs ; and, indeed, in the case of certain bony growths tlie line cannot be drawn, without artifice, between monstrosities by excess and tumours (see Lecture VII.) But, in the large majority of cases, there are sufficient characters of distinction between them ; for, 1st, the congenital excesses of development present a more complex structure, and are more conformed to tlie plan and construction of the body, than auytlimg that can be reasonably called a tumour. And, if it be said that this higher organization is no more than is consistent with the period of formation, winch is in embryo-life, when the force of development is greatest, tlien, 2dly, we may note this difference ; tliat the congenital excesses are usually limited for their increase to the period of natiu-al growth of the body. They commonly cease to grow when or before the body has attained its full statui’c: they conform to its methods and times of development, growth, and deca}